Opponents to Transource power line want local hearings in Franklin and York counties

About 40 people lined up in front of farm equipment at Sunny Acres Farm on Fetterhoff Chapel Road, Mont Alto, to protest the proposed Transource power transmission line on Saturday, Oct. 14.(Photo: Amber South, Public Opinion)Buy Photo

HARRISBURG -- The battle lines are drawn as Transource Energy seeks approval for high-voltage transmission lines in Franklin and York counties.

Opponents to the Independent Energy Project are in no hurry. Attorneys for the utility and local residents are arguing about when to schedule hearings before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

Joanna A. Waldron, a Doylestown attorney for Stop Transource Franklin County, proposes several public hearings in the two counties because of “significant public interest.” The Franklin County route alone has drawn 76 protests.

An image showing a typical double-circuit steel monopole, which is the structure type Transource plans to use for the construction of its proposed transmission lines.(Photo: Courtesy)

She suggested site visits and public hearings in York County in mid-to late-May, and again in Franklin County in early to mid-June.

Transource has proposed public input and site visits for April.

The Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Affairs has suggested on-site visits and hearings in the two counties in the later part of May.

Whitney E. Snyder, solicitor for the York County Planning Commission, and Phillip Demanchick, Pennsylvania's assistant consumer advocate, argue that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission does not get jurisdiction if the PUC fails to decide on the Transource application within a year. The deadline for National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors does not apply because no such corridors currently are designated.

“Transource should not benefit by its delay in filing, and now claim it has impending time constraints when such constraints are self-induced,” Snyder wrote to the PUC. “Federal ‘backstop’ authority does not apply here.”

Margaret Morris, an attorney from Philadelphia representing Citizens to STOP Transource, has endorsed the OCA position.

The Public Service Commission of Maryland is reviewing eight miles of the 60-mile project and will not make a decision until well into 2019, according to Waldron.

Transource has proposed two tower designs for transmission lines through southern Pennsylvania.(Photo: Courtesy)

The PUC will hold a prehearing conference on Tuesday, March 13, to schedule public input hearings and other procedural matters. Only attorneys and people representing themselves as parties can actively participate in this conference. No testimony will be taken at the prehearing.

The prehearing will be held at 10 a.m. in Hearing Room 1, located in the Commonwealth Keystone Building, 400 North Street, in the PA State Capitol Complex, in Harrisburg. Seating capacity is 192. If attendance exceeds the capacity of the hearing room, the presiding judges may divide the hearing into two conferences, held back-to-back – one for the York County project and another for the Franklin County project.

Opponents to the project question the need for it as well as its impact on well water, wildlife, farming, historic areas and the scenery.